Found: livestock auctions Hurlingham Polo Association : For polo grounds Game Farmers Association : For game farms

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on compensation, disinfection of premises and other costs associated with avian flu outbreaks at poultry and game farms, in each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Figures include (i) compensation claims related to the avian influenza compensation scheme; and (ii) operational costs, which includes culling, disposal, and cleaning and disinfection at infected premises.

2023/24 Total costs of £13.1 million, made up of £2.9 million compensation claims and £10.2million of operational costs

2022/23 Total costs of £84.5 million, made up of £38.3 million compensation claims and £46.2 million of operational costs

2021/22 Total costs of £24.8 million, made up of £6.5 million compensation claims and £18.3 million of operational costs

2020/21 Total costs of £4.5 million, made up of £1.5 million compensation claims and £3.0 million of operational costs

2019/20 Total costs of £0.1 million, made up of £0.1 million in operational costs, there were no compensation claims.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of existing measures in place to both respond to, and reduce the risk of, outbreaks of avian flu at poultry and game farms.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra’s approach to avian influenza is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales. Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control.

All avian influenza disease control and prevention measures are kept under regular review as part of the government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of avian influenza, and all decisions regarding these measures are based on risk assessments containing the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice.

Found: Stations, Fish Farms, Flour Mills, Football Stadia, Formula Assessed Miscellaneous, Game Farms

Found: Stations, Fish Farms, Flour Mills, Football Stadia, Formula Assessed Miscellaneous, Game Farms

Found: 111 Funeral Parlours/Chapels Of Rest 1810 28967 16 11.8 1620 27219 16.8 12.5 190 1748 9.1 7 112 Game Farms

Found: and there was reference to examples of permanent development associated with shooting such as game farms

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the discussions that it has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in relation to the importation of pheasants during the avian influenza outbreak.

Answered by Gougeon, Mairi - Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands

During the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, representatives of the Scottish Government Animal Disease Control Branch have had daily interactions with Defra and the Welsh Government regarding all manner of policy matters relating to the outbreak, including the impact of avian influenza on the game industry.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government, along with Defra, the Welsh Government and DAERA (NI) Officials have hosted twice-weekly meetings with the GB Avian Diseases Core Group (with representatives from industries impacted by the outbreak), which includes the Game Farmer’s Association.

These discussions have included consideration of how government could assist with the shortage of gamebird hatching eggs available for import into the UK from France, which had been hampered by the unprecedented number of outbreaks of HPAI across a number of French regions, in particular the Vendee and Loire Atlantique areas, where the majority of French game farms are located. These areas had been accordingly subjected to strict restrictions on the movement of game birds and hatching eggs, including restricting exports to other countries.

In response to this and in acknowledgment of the dependency of our game sector on imports from these affected French regions – and also to the narrow window of this part of the breeding cycle for game birds – the Scottish Government, along with Defra and the Welsh Government, worked with the French government (including the Chief Veterinary Officer of France) and industry officials to develop a temporary strategy whereby gamebird hatching eggs from HPAI restricted zones in France could be licensed for landing at ports in the UK.

Under this scheme, a new model health certificate for the import of hatching eggs, other than ratites, from France had been developed to accompany consignments that would be imported under licence, and which would require adherence to a set of strict biosecurity requirements throughout the transfer process.

However, the scheme was not taken forward at the request of French authorities and industry, who reported that weather conditions at the time in France, in the form of extremely high temperatures, had not only had a significant impact on egg production levels, but also presented challenges for the safe and successful transportation of gamebird eggs.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the game industry, along with the poultry and other captive bird sectors, to minimise the spread, and the social and economic impact, of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland.

Found: The Police are not aware of any poultry, or game farms in the vicinity.